TRAINING CRITICAL ZONE SCIENTISTS TO MANAGE FOREST RESOURCES

This is a proposal to establish an interdisciplinary training program that teaches PhD students to analyze forest resources from a Critical Zone (CZ) perspective. Earth's CZ is the thin near-surface zone spanning from bedrock to the atmospheric boundary layer. Since the mid-2000s, scientists have been viewing this zone through a new interdisciplinary lens that brings together biology, soil science, geology, hydrology, and meteorology to make co-located measurements of chemical and biological transport and transformation that describe past landscape evolution and improve projections of future conditions. This interdisciplinary approach has precipitated important insights that link hydrology, weathering rates, soil characteristics, nutrient availability, microbial process, and plant dynamics.The goals of our program areto train three PhD graduates that are leaders in Critical Zone (CZ) management and diversify the workforce. Three PhD fellows will matriculate into one of three degree programs (Ecology, Soil Science or Forest Resources), and add coursework and experiential learning in the following core competency areas: Forestry, Hydrology, Soil Science, Ecology, Geoscience, Systems thinking, and Leadership.Fellows will be embedded within the Susquehanna-Shale Hills CZ Observatory community, amplifying our impact and broadening exposure to CZ science. Trainees will complete the first-ever CZ Management plan and disseminate that plan braodly toincreasethe application of CZ science for forest management.